TV focus
Small town America We look at two brand new US dramas that deal with an age-old conundrum Words by Chris McDonald
Back to the future Europe’s cities might be famous for their history, but Future Cities examines the exciting advancements being made today in two of the continent’s finest. Spain’s eastern port of Valencia has been adding to its reputation for oranges and paella with exciting new architectural and infrastructure projects, including high-speed rail links and the ambitious Green Delta project, which will renovate the area surrounding the bed of the redirected river Turia. Danish capital Copenhagen is another famous port, which is now growing into a combined metropolitan area with Malmo, just across the water in Sweden. But continuing physical and economic growth is wedded to a green philosophy, meaning such expansion has not increased the city’s energy consumption. Future Cities examines how clean technologies, recycling and myriad cycling lanes have created both a blueprint for other cities to aspire to and a healthier lifestyle for Copenhagen’s inhabitants.
Television audiences have long been in love with the classic fish-out-of-water tale, and last autumn were introduced to two new entrants into the genre’s canon. Suburgatory and Hart Of Dixie both centre on the unforeseen complications that city folk meet when made to adapt to ‘simpler’ lifestyles. Starring Jeremy Sisto, Cheryl Hines (AKA Mrs Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm) and newcomer Jane Levy, Suburgatory is the story of single father George and his savvy 16-yearold daughter, Tessa. Fearing his daughter is growing up too fast in the city, the pair swap the Big Apple for the suburbs and find themselves faced with a Stepford Wives-style world of picket fences, immaculately-kept lawns and teen Barbies with perfect teeth. The show’s satirical-yet-heartfelt scripts have garnered strong ratings Stateside, with Levy’s razor-sharp performances as the cynical, wisecracking Tessa marking her as a breakthrough star. And while Tessa struggles to get to grips with her new nemesis, prom-queen-in-waiting
Dalia, Sisto provides strong support as George, who begins his adaptation to the pair’s new ‘suburban purgatory’ by striking up a friendship with Dalia’s mother, Dallas (Hines). Hart Of Dixie tells the story of another Manhattan girl, Dr Zoe Hart (The OC’s Rachel Bilson), transported out of her comfort zone after her planned career as a cardio-thoracic surgeon fails to materialise. Instead, she reluctantly finds herself working at a small practice in the town of Bluebell, Alabama, where she must contend with the mistrust of the locals and her own unwillingness to accept her new circumstances. Wryly amusing but played less for laughs than Surburgatory, Hart Of Dixie sees Bilson take the lead in a story that’s both fish-out-ofwater and coming-of-age, lending the hitherto driven, uptight Zoe a human fragility. Hart Of Dixie and Suburgatory are playing on selected flights this month. See page 19 for details
Future Cities is playing on selected flights this month
A p ril 2 0 12
17